CARLSBAD: Local father of two dies in Afghanistan

Lt. Col. Mario Carazo remembered as great coach, friend, Marine

Lt. Col. Mario D. Carazo, who died in combat July 22 in
Afghanistan, loved being a pilot, delighted in getting out on the
dance floor, and spent every moment he could with his family in
Carlsbad, one of his friends said Friday.

"He loved flying, I know that," said Lt. Col. Harold "Eric"
Burke, a fellow Carlsbad resident who first served with Carazo in
1996 at Camp Pendleton. "He was a typical great American hero. He
loved flying, he loved the Marine Corps."

Carazo, 41, and Maj. James M. Weis, 36, died during combat
operations in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, U.S. military
officials have said. The military has not released details about
how the two helicopter pilots died, but NATO officials have
reported that two service members were killed in a helicopter crash
near Helmand providence's capital city, the Marines Corps Times
reported on its Web site.

Carazo is survived by his wife Jennifer, his 9-year-old son
Mario Jr., and his 6-year-old daughter Milla. The family has lived
in their north Carlsbad home for about decade, Burke said in a
telephone interview from his temporary duty location in Washington,
D.C.

Heather Hilliard, director of Carlsbad Lightning Soccer's
recreation programs, said Carazo had been a very committed
volunteer coach for her nonprofit organization for several
years.

"He did a phenomenal job," she said, describing Carazo as a
gentle, soft-spoken man. "He was great with the kids, the boys
loved him."

His most recent coaching stint occurred last fall, just after he
returned from a deployment in Iraq, she said.

"I think we might have had the (first) coaches' meeting the
night he returned," Hilliard added.

Carazo spent his teen-age years in Cerritos, Burke said. As a
kid, he dreamed of attending the U.S. Naval Academy and he made
that dream come true, Burke added.

Burke met Carazo for the first time in when they were stationed
in the same helicopter squadron at Camp Pendleton. As they got to
know each other, they discovered that they had spent their high
school years in neighboring towns and even had mutual friends,
Burke said. That became a bond between them.

They also shared a good -natured rivalry over which one was
better pilot ---- each man specialized in flying a different type
of helicopter.

"He was a Cobra pilot and I was a Huey pilot," Burke said.

A Facebook page dedicated to Carazo states that he entered the
Marines in 1987, and deployed to Iraq in both 2006 and 2008. Burke
served with him during the second deployment when Carazo handled
day-to-day flight operations planning.

Carazo was a hard worker who wasn't a chatty person, but he was
willing to let loose and have fun at times, his friend recalled. He
loved to get out on the dance floor, and he looked like a big teddy
bear out there dancing, Burke said.

"The reason he got the (nick)name Sugar Bear … he liked to
dance," he said, adding that Sugar Bear became Carazo's pilot
callsign.

In an article in the Springfield, Ohio, News-Sun paper, a
retired staff sergeant who worked under Carazo called him the best
commanding officer she had in her 20 years in the Marines.

"If it were possible to get more than 100 percent from his
people, he could have gotten it. ...You just couldn't know a better
man. He is going to be missed," the retired staff sergeant told a
reporter.

Information on when services might be scheduled for Carazo
were not available Friday. Friends said there might be several
services, including one at Camp Pendleton.